A week ago today, I was at Eroticon*, a fortnight ago I was standing in the drizzle at Brigands Roundabout, being a marshall for the motorcycle ride-out. Both of these things affected me in different, but overwhelmingly positive, ways.
Over the past 12-18 months I’ve been conciously working on being more accepting of myself. Things I’ve ignored, or hidden/buried, or in some cases tried to deny, in pursuit of social acceptance, I am learning to understand and accept about myself. This is mostly with the aim of improving my mental health but it has had side-effects of me becoming more vocal with my opinions, and with speaking up when people are spreading mis-information. I still do a lot of physically removing myself from situations that feel like they’re leading to conflict or discomfort (i.e. walking out of a room) but not always. Learning always has to start with un-learning, after all.
This weekend was, on paper, more relaxing than the last few… but due to hair cut appointment yesterday I didn’t bother going back to bed after feeding the animals, and the weather forecast was for good weather yesterday & rain today so we rushed to get the hedge cut (he wields the power tools, I spend my time clearing evrything up & trudging up & down to the garden waste skips at the end of our road) and then I collapsed about 9pm & slept in this morning… and we’ve still got all the hedge at the back to somehow get cut before autumn. Arrggh!
…I have NO idea where I was going with that ramble, except to say: I’ve been busy, but it’s been good busy (except the hedge. The hedge is the bane of my life). I need to polish up the synopsis for Under Leaden Skies, and get that sent off along with sample chapters ready for my pitch slot at UK Meet. That’s the next big thing in my calendar, and I’m really looking forward to it, but I’m also really enjoying the viewpoints and friendships opened up to me by going to Eroticon :-)
*if you’re being pedantic about the exact time, yes I had just about got home by now. This post got a bit delayed…